In recent years, collision avoidance has emerged as a growing field of interest. Generally speaking, vehicle collision avoidance systems may use information regarding the surroundings of a vehicle (e.g., an automobile, etc.), to detect potential vehicle collisions before they occur. In some cases, a vehicle collision avoidance system may automatically trigger an action by the vehicle, if a collision is imminent. For example, the collision avoidance system may activate the brakes of the vehicle or take other measures, to help eliminate or mitigate the potential collision between vehicles. In other cases, the vehicle collision avoidance system may provide alerts to the operator of the vehicle, when a potential collision is detected.
Dedicated short range radio (DSRC) illustrates one enabling technology that may be used as part of a vehicle collision avoidance system. Notably, the United States Federal Communications Commission has recently allocated the 5.9 GHz band for use by intelligent transportation systems. For example, a vehicle collision avoidance system equipped with a DSRC transceiver may broadcast safety messages at certain times, to alert other vehicles as to the location, speed, and/or direction of travel of the vehicle. In response to receiving such information from another vehicle, the vehicle collision avoidance system may detect potential hazards by comparing the location, speed, and/or direction of the local vehicle to those of any nearby vehicles.